Pauline Hanson may have been vague on policy details, costings, and sources, but according to a group of News Corp Australia commentators, she delivered a 'tour de force performance' at the National Press Club on Wednesday. The One Nation leader was hailed as 'a politician ready to rule' by news.com.au and 'a joy to watch' by the Herald Sun's Andrew Bolt.
Jai Bednall, news.com.au's 'head of growth', stated it was 'clear we have a new unofficial opposition leader' who 'looks and sounds sharp'. Bednall wrote, 'Some Aussies of all ages might struggle to trust a party that is having to expand so rapidly with the nation's finances, let alone geopolitics. But One Nation doesn't have to be perfect in these areas either. They just need enough people to believe that it surely can't get much worse than those currently running the country.'
The Australian's associate editor Jenna Clarke hailed Hanson as a Thatcher from Queensland, writing, 'Critics and commentators were expecting a lecture from a Karen, instead she put on a show akin to late British PM Margaret Thatcher, if Marg ever spent any time in a Townsville pub. Hanson is sharp in every sense, from her political antenna to her rhetoric.'
Sandilands v Fordham
Shock jock Kyle Sandilands claimed he has helped One Nation leaders Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce with their 'messaging' and introduced them to 'upper society'. In his first interview since settling his $85m federal court case, Sandilands said a major driver in accepting the 'miserable amount' of $12m from ARN Media was mounting legal fees, which have already reached $1m.
Sandilands told the Game Changers Radio podcast, 'I spent time with both of them, and they're very inspirational. And they're not what everyone thinks they are. They're not like a lunatic racist party of country bumpkins that think that the world should change, but a lot more common sense stuff.'
Sandilands, who is launching his own independent podcast, Kyle Sandilands Live, also used the interview to say fellow shock jock Ben Fordham 'deserves a slap'. Sandilands alleged Fordham was critical of his $100m contract to host the Kyle and Jackie O Breakfast Show on Kiis FM, but then dared to ask him for an interview. 'And then he'd send me a text, 'hey mate, do you want to come on?' I said, 'no, you've been a cunt about it',' Sandilands told Game Changers. 'Fuck you. And he wrote, 'oh, don't be a sook'. And I was like, 'you want a slap? Like watch your mouth.' Like I don't put up with his bullshit… Like he deserves a slap.'
Fordham responded on his 2GB show on Friday morning, disputing Sandilands' version and saying his former breakfast radio rival never threatened to slap him. 'Oh, Kyle, you can slap me anytime, sweetheart,' he said. 'And let me say this to Kyle 'The Slapper' Sandilands. I love it when you role-play as the tough guy and you've explained recently that's what you do when you're on the air. You play a character. But be honest with yourself. Come on, Kyle, tell the truth. You didn't threaten to slap me or say watch your mouth or F-you. You're just having aggressive fantasies about the guy who dominated you in the ratings.'
Grogs told to jog on
Some of the questions at Hanson's press club appearance raised eyebrows. Greg Jericho, the Australia Institute's chief economist and a regular Guardian Australia columnist, was among those who thought questions from the Age and Sydney Morning Herald correspondent James Massola and the Canberra Times' Dana Daniel were underwhelming.
Massola asked, 'A simple question for you, reflecting on your speech, your comments about migration and multiculturalism, and what have you, is Australia in danger of being swamped by Muslim migration?' Hanson replied, 'Not if I've got anything to do with it.' Daniel asked, 'Canberra cops a lot of criticism from conservatives. You spent a lot of time here in your career. How do you rate our nation's capital?' Hanson said, 'Well, I try to keep out of it as much as I possibly can.'
Jericho reacted on BlueSky, saying, 'This gallery has had a decade of watching Trump and 30 yrs of Hanson and they walked in the press club like it was first day on the job.' As a Walkley award-winning journalist, Jericho has been a member of the press gallery since 2015. But an hour after his post, the committee president, Jane Norman, emailed to say he no longer qualified to hold the pass. 'We're doing another audit of Press Gallery passes and yours has been identified as one that no longer fits the criteria,' said Norman, the ABC's national affairs correspondent. 'Given your primary job is now as the chief economist at the Australia Institute, can you please arrange for a lobbyist pass for the building?'
Jericho told Weekly Beast he had joined the institute in February 2022. On sitting days, he said, almost all his time was devoted to journalism. Norman told Beast, 'It hasn't been cancelled. I asked Greg to arrange a lobbyist pass because he's the chief economist at the Aus Institute which is in breach of the Press Gallery rules.' Jericho said his pass was being cancelled: 'If you're kicking me out, fine, but don't tell me you're not while you show me the door!'
An English editor in France
The Daily Telegraph editor, Ben English, posted a video from Toulouse, France, on the Tele's Instagram page, appearing to promote Qantas's new Airbus A350-1000ULR. English said, 'Hello, everyone, from Toulouse in France,' with the plane behind him. The 'longest haul flights ever for humanity' had just been announced by the airline's chief executive, Vanessa Hudson. The nonstop service from Sydney to London was first announced in 2017 and due in 2022 but delayed until October 2027.
English gushed about 'incredible innovations to enable people to minimise the impact of being on a flight for 20 hours, including wellness centres, special diet, special temperature control, a whole range of things.' There was no indication on the post that he had travelled courtesy of Qantas. The aviation writer Robyn Ironside, also on the junket, disclosed the arrangement in her stories for the Australian and the Tele: 'The writer is a guest of Airbus and Qantas in Toulouse.' Weekly Beast tried to ask English if he had paid for his own ticket but received an out-of-office auto-reply.
New line of work
Matthew Hooton, described as the 'most experienced, exciting and intellectually engaged political and business commentator' in New Zealand by Stuff Group, has been appointed editor-in-chief of the Post and the Sunday Star-Times, despite never being a journalist. The Post's report noted, 'There's one thing missing from his list of credentials: journalism. Hooton has never trained as or been a journalist, yet he's now the new editor-in-chief of The Post.'
Stuff Group owner and publisher Sinead Boucher explained she chose the lobbyist for his understanding of power: 'Few people understand power in New Zealand as well as Matthew does. He has lived and breathed political strategy and spin for most of his career, and he knows institutional self-interest better than most.' Elsewhere in the media it was described as a 'bombshell' and a 'WTF moment'. Hooton, who was writing a column for the New Zealand Herald before landing the gig, said he was a fast learner who would 'delegate things pretty readily'. The head of journalism at Massey University, Associate Prof James Hollings, told Radio New Zealand that Hooton's appointment was 'one on the shock factor. It could be quite a sea change for journalism and political journalism in New Zealand.'
Cup overflows
SBS's broadcast of the World Cup has reached 9.76 million Australians, and SBS says it is 'delighted this global sporting event has been embraced by Australian audiences and media'. The enthusiasm is so high for World Cup content that the exclusive Australian rights holder has raised concerns with a number of media organisations over their use of footage. Before the tournament, SBS warned media organisations that any use of its footage or other copyright material from the World Cup would be considered a breach of its copyright, unless under fair dealing.
Weekly Beast noticed both the Courier-Mail and the Daily Telegraph were running an eight-second gif of Lionel Messi's long-range goal for Argentina against Algeria on their homepages. According to SBS rules, the use of animated gifs or looped MP4s is not ordinarily permitted by rights owners under fair dealing for major comparable sporting events. An SBS spokesperson would not be drawn on which media organisations the broadcaster had contacted, stating, 'Non-rightsholders may only use FIFA World Cup 2026 content in accordance with the requirements of fair dealing under the Copyright Act 1986, including for the genuine purpose of news reporting, criticism or review. In particular, any use must attribute SBS as the source/rightsholder of the content.' News Corp Australia was approached for comment.
Zero insight
A familiar yellow Clive Palmer ad for the United Australia party appeared out of place in the Advertiser this week. The anti-immigration ad, for Senator Ralph Babet, ran along the bottom of a page featuring stories and photographs of Nestory Irankunda's joyful family and Adelaide Socceroos fans celebrating his World Cup performance against Turkey. Just below a sea of smiling faces in Adelaide, including Irankunda's mother, Dafroza Siyajali, was the jarring headline 'Zero immigration'.
